Date:13/03/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/03/13/stories/2007031317030400.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

What they say

M. Ravi, ambulance driver, Apollo Hospitals: I have been driving the ambulance for over 15 years. Traffic has gone up manifold, particularly in the last two years. Earlier, motorists would instantly give way once they hear the siren. These days, only buses give way if they see an ambulance. Autorickshaw drivers and two-wheeler riders want to capitalise on the space created for us on roads. If they are riding in front of us, instead of giving way, they speed up. The doctor would have asked us to bring a patient from a place as far as Tambaram within half an hour. If caught in traffic, the trauma we undergo while transporting a patient battling death cannot be described in words. Traffic police do their best to help us, but in areas where there are no cops, unless motorists cooperate, we cannot do justice to the patient.